Thursday, May 13, 2010

Ahhh, we are back home and settled in! We had a great trip home, Wren was surprisingly wonderful the whole way, and it feels great to be back. We loved getting away and enjoyed staying at my parent's place, but it truly felt like a breath of fresh air as came through the front door. It is amazing how we had forgotten so quickly why we love this house (and all the white!). It totally renewed my love affair with all things white to be away from it for a little.

The best part of being away was decompressing from all the ideas swirling around in my mind. Walking in the house again totally confirmed some of the decisions I had been doubting (needlessly) as far as furniture placement and choices. But I also feel rejuvenated with ideas for the areas I still feel unsure about. I have a couple posts planned for my favorite inspirations that I plan to use here at home after seeing a few new places and went places I hadn't been in a long time.

My first inspiration was a beautiful store I am sure some of you may be familiar with: Pom Pom. Hilde, the genius behind Pom Pom, has establised several locations in the LA area, all of them brimming with beauty and wonder! I could have spent hours, days, even weeks exploring her tiny Santa Monica store. It is located right next door to Shabby Chic Couture and I have no idea why I hadn't stopped in before.

Hilde has worked with everyone, I just didn't realize who she was until I did some google research after arriving back home. Looks like I am just finally discovering what others have known about forever!

Currently at that location everything is slipcovered and covered in linen. The first thing I saw when I walked in was this bedding and I nearly tipped over. Isn't it the perfect mix of so many styles???

I LOVED it, but knew that it just wasn't quite what I was looking for.

Then I saw these linen shams.... I think I coul have some pretty good dreams on those babies! But they weren't white. And the white ones didn't have white ribbon so I had to pass.

Then I discovered this set. Clean, simple and beautiful. I just knew it was what I had been hunting for.

I splurged and bought a simple white linen duvet. It is free of ruffles and frills, the only adornment being a small embroidered crest in the middle of the duvet. It was a little more than I was planning on spending (not a lot, but I really wanted to stick to the budget...) so I had to fore-go any of the matching shams and bedskirt. Plus I didn't want to do all linen, but a mixture of linen and cotton.

We stopped next door and I debated on a few of the lovely Miss Ashwell's shams, but having dealt with her return policy before (48 hours just wouldn't work for us LOL) I didn't want to take the plunge until seeing it all on our bed. Knowing I could call the store and order after getting home, we returned to the desert.

The next day my mom and I made a stop at Kohl's, and it was probably the best shopping I did the whole trip (besides PomPom, of course). I found these Ralph Lauren throw pillows in the clearance isle.

This is the part where I wish I lived across the street from a Kohl's. THEY WERE $4.99!!! Minus an extra 15%! I still cannot believe that price.

I think they will live on our family room sectional~

I love the soft hit of grey, which looks wonderful with all the marble on the fireplace.

But Kohl's didn't stop there... they won me over time and time again! The next one being this white bedskirt. HELLO, I nearly bought this identical one at Shabby Chic for ten times the price! The price was $35, but was also 35% off and then another 15% off. What???

They also had shams! I got two king shams and two standard shams... for like $6 each!! I wanted to go simple with the duvet and add bits of glamour with pillows, which made these just perfect.

I want to add a few linen shams as well to pull it all together, but unfortunately Kohl's isn't stocking those yet LOL.

So now I don't feel so bad about splurging on the duvet. Thanks Kohls!

LOVE those pillows. I think I am heading to Kohls tonight to see if they have any left! How did I miss those!

Too bad I didn't realize you were going to Palm Springs! My Aunt & Uncle have a home there...it made me laugh when you talked about your Dad buying the painting from Liberace's estate. They were neighbors and I remember going there when I was a kid. He also had a house on their street in Brentwood CA and I remember going over to his piano shaped pool. Isn't that crazy!? Sylverter Stallone and Paul McCartney lived on either side of their house in Brentwood. OJ was just 3 doors down during the "Nicole" incident. Ahhh....I love, love, love a visit to Cali, it is so beautiful! Lucky you! Glad you are home...can't wait to see all that bedding in place!

I'm getting the well known rush from finding a great shopping bargain just by reading about your Kohl's experience. (is that pathetic?) Well, whatever. I will definitely keep Kohl's in mind for bargain hunting. Thx for the tip, I seldom venture over to that store.

I lived in LA for 12 years and every once in a while would plan a day to go to Pom Pom, Shabby Chic, etc.. it was such a delight and I always left SO inspired. Thanks for this post and the great memories it brings me! (and the inspriation to find new bedding at a fraction of the cost if I just look!)

Don't you just love Khol's? And if you spend 50 bucks you get 10 bucks in Khol's cash to spend anyway you like on your next visit...I just found you blog today and I'm loving it...I'm off to Brimfield, MA for the big flea market today...but when I return I plan on viewing every page of your blog...thanks for the inspiration...

I love your blog and you have really inspired me to take some risks! Because of seeing your beautiful furniture transformations, I recently purchased a very ugly brown bedside table for $10 that I would usually never have given a second look. I painted it a beautiful creamy white and distressed it and it is GORGEOUS! Thank you for sharing your beautiful creations with us. Also, I think I saw a photo of a desk of yours over at Brabourne Farm.

Ok - can I ask you a huge favor? I am in LOVE with those pillows and I do live right near a Kohls....could I ask you for the SKU# on the tag? I looked on their website and couldn't find them - but if I give the store the SKU# apparently they can try and track it down for me.Thansk sooooo much!Michelle